Railroad ditching and excavating machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Mar.6,1883.

- 17106712507. Jo V506 (No Model.)

H. T. STOCK.

RAILROAD DITGHING AND EXGAVATING MAGHINB.

Winesses.

\\S MALXQ K 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

v(No Model.)

H. T. STOCK.

RAILROAD DITOHING AND EXGAVATING MACHINE.

No. 273,631. Patented Ma.1*.6',1883.

1710671607". 2M 4% Ma. w.

Wz'zizesses.

NITED STATES ATENT Erica.

HOSEA T. STOCK, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,631, dated March 6,1883. Application filed August 30, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOSEA T. STOCK, of the city of Toledo, Lucas county,Ohio, have invented anew and useful Improvement inBailroad-DitchingMachines and Excavatorswhich improvement is fully setforth in the following specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to a device designed for railroad-excavating work,as well as for making and cleaning ditches along railwaytracks. Themachine is mounted in and upon a railroad-car, and is provided with theengines, boilers, hoisting machinery, chains,

1 swinging crane, shovel or dipper, and its handle usually found inexcavatingmachines.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide such machine withmechanism by means of which its crane, with its shovel or dipper,

may at pleasure be easily and quickly shifted from side to side, or tothe frontof the machine, in order that the crane may be brought tooverhang, or nearly so, the ditch upon which the work is to beperformed, so that ditching may be done on both sides of the track withthe same crane, and so that the machine may also be used for ordinaryexcavating-work; second, to provide such machine, in which the crane isswung by the ordinary chain and hori- 0 zontal wheel or swinging circle,with a device by means of which such chain may be kept equally taut andmade to run uniformly from the fixed hoisting machinery or drum in anyposition to which the crane may be shift- 5 ed; (in this specification Iuse the terms shifting and swinging as applied to the crane in differentsenses, the former denoting .the moving of the crane relatively to thecar bodily from point to point, the latter meaning the motion of thecrane upon its own mast or center;) third, to provide such machine witha device by means of which the chain or. rope designed to pull thedipper upward and forward and to lower the same shall, at whatever pointto which the crane may be shifted, lead from its drum or hoistingapparatus without entanglement, rubbing, or undue twist; and, fourth, toprovide means for securing the longitudinal thrust and travel to and froof the shovel-beam or dipper-handle uniform in any position to which thecrane of the machine may be shifted. I attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a side view of my device. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same above itsroof. Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the machine behind the crane.Fig. 4 is a plan of the mechanism designed for shifting the crane, andFig. 5 is a view ofa portion of the same.

Similar letters refer to similar parts througlr out the several figures.

A is the mast, B the jib or brace, and O the tie or boom, of the crane.The crane is provided with a shovel, scoop, or dipper, D, having ahandle, E. The mast of the crane at bottom rests upon a stout arm orsupport, F, and at top the mast enters and is held upright by the arm orsupport G.

H is a stationary post. At bottom post H passes through arm F, and attop passes through piece G, thus forming a pivot or fulcrum for radialarms G and F, both of which -pieces, carrying with them the crane,rotate horizontally, describing the are x w.

()n the floor of the machine, under the piece F, is secured a segmentalrack or frame, J, having teeth or cogs on its upper side, the center ofits circle being post H. Pinion is, attached to arm F, engages the rackJ, and may be revolved by means of levers inserted in the holes in shaftlof pinion k,causingthe pinion to travel around segmental rack J,carrying with it the radial arms F and G and crane A B G and itsappendages, thus bringing the crane to a working position at any desiredpoint on the dotted line 00. I do not, however, limit my invention tothis method of rotating pinion k, as equivalent means will readilysuggest themselves to persons skilled in the art.

Under the swinging support G is secured to the roof a segmental bar, M.J and M form supports and ways for arms F and G. Arms F and G areprovided with holes m, which coincide with corresponding holes in J andM. By inserting pins 02 in these coincident holes the radial arms F andG are securely held in any position to which they may be shifted.

\Vith reference to the mechanism here described by which the crane isshifted from point to point, I do not confine myinvention to the meansof shifting the crane in the arc of a circle, as obviously a straightrack and pinion,

or their equivalents, maybe employed to move the crane from side toside'of the car in a straightline,though I prefer the method shown, asaffording a simpler way of connecting the digging and swinging apparatusby chains, 860., with the fixed drums and engines.

O is a horizontal wheel or swinging circle provided for swinging thecrane. 0 is a chain leading from a drum, (actuated by the steamenginesof the machine,) and passing around the periphery of the wheel 0,causing the wheel 0 to turn, carrying with it the crane to the right orleft, according to the direction in which the chain 0 is wound up andpaid out.

a cm are horizontal pulleys or guides between which chain 0 passes, asshown in Fig. 2.

Guides or pulleys a are supported upon and braced by piece P, whichrests at one end upon the upper end of the gudgeon of post H, (whichalso serves as an axle for the middle pulley, a,) and at its otherend-upon the roof of the machine, leaving space between P and the rooffor the arm G to swing through. By this arrangement the chain oat alltimes runs to its proper groove on wheel 0, and is nearly equally tautat any position to which the crane may be shifted. I

R is the rope or chain designed to pull the shovel or dipper upwardand'forward. in order that this chain B may accommodate itself to thevarying locations of the crane, it passes from its drum to two pulleysor guides,b b, on post H, thence between the guides b b, through post Hto pulley or guide 0, thence up through the center of the hollow mast Aand out over pulley d to the usual connections and attachments. Mast Ais fixed upon the radial arms F and G, and does not swing with thecrane.

.Hence the groove of the pulley c, in shifting the crane, is alwaystoward the opening between pulleys b, so that chain or rope R must rununiformly without rubbing or becoming entangled or unduly twisted.

In order to accomplish the operation of forcing or digging the excavatorD downward, and to control the longitudinal motion of the shovel-beam E,the same is provided with toothed rack e, which engages pinion e. Toovercome the difficulty of communicating motion to the rack and pinion e6 upon a shifting traveling swinging crane by means of the fixedstationary engines of the machine, I

provide the crane with a small reversible engine, S, which may beactuated by either steam or compressed .air supplied through a flexibletube. Upon the shaft of engine S is a pinion, s, which engages acog-wheel fixed on the same shaft with pinion 0. By means of thisarrangement the excavator D may be raised or lowered with as much orlittle force or speed as may be required, in whatever direction thecrane maybe swung or to whatever point the crane may be. shifted uponits I segmental track.

1. A railroad ditching or excavating ma chine provided with a crane, A BC, and excavator E D, arranged to be shifted from side to side, or tothe front of its car,substantially as shown and described, for thepurposes set forth.

2. In a railroad ditching or excavating ma- 1 chine, thehorizontally-rotatin g radial arms or supports F and G, in combinationwith post H, crane A B O, and excavator D, substantially as shown anddescribed, for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of the radial arms F and G and rack and pinion j kwith crane A B (J.

4:. The combination and arrangement of post H, radial arms F and G,crane A B C, and the segmental tracks and supports J and M,substantially asshown and described, for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination of radial arms G and F and crane A B G with excavatorD, substantially as shown and described, for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination of crane A B G and excavatorD with radial arms F andG, post H, and segments J and. M, substantially as shown and described,for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination of the crane AB 0 with radial arms F G, post H, rackand pinion j k, segment M, sockets m, and pins 12, substantially asshown and described, for the purposes set forth.

8. The arrangement of pulleys or guides at a a,chain 0, and swingingcircle 0, substantially as shown and described, for the purposes setforth.

9. The combination of circle 0 and chain 0 with pulleys or guides at a aand support or brace P, substantially as shown and described, for thepurpose set forth.

10. The combination of the radial arms F and G, circle 0, and chain 0with pulleys a a a and support or brace P, substantially as shown anddescribed,forthe purpose set forth.

11. The combination of chain R with pulleys or guides 12 b c d and thehollow mast A, substantially as shown and described, for the purpose setforth.

12. In a railroad ditching or excavating machine, the combination ofcrane A B C, arranged to be shifted from side to side, or to the frontof its car, with engine S, excavator D, and handle or beam E,substantially as shown and described, for the purposes set forth.

13. In a railroad-ditching machine, the coinbination of post H,horizontally-rotating arms FG, segmental supports J M, crane AB-G,excavator D, and handle or beam E with engine S, substantially as shownand described, for the purposes set forth.

HOSEA T. STOCK.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK L. GEnDEs, CLARENCE BROWN.

